Youth vote important piece of Presidential campaigns

In this close presidential election, both campaigns are focusing in on young voters. Some students at UW Stevens Point are doing their part to get people age 18 to 29 to the polls.

More than 45 million 18 to 29-year-olds are eligible to vote this year making them a very desirable group.

"I think students are definitely engaged," UWSP Student Vote Coalition Director David Boardman said. "There are a number of issues that directly affect the students right now and I think that the most important way for them to have an opinion on which direction they want that debate to go is to get out and vote."

He added that interest in this year's election continues to grow as November 6th approaches and representatives from Republican and Democratic groups on campus agreed.

"Our membership has quadrupled from last year to this year," UWSP College Republicans President Andy Erler said.

"It's definitely an increase," UWSP College Democrats Treasurer Christian Fredrickson told Newsline 9 of interest in the campaign this year.

While the two representatives may disagree on who's best to lead our country, both said there's a lot at stake for young voters.

"Elections are decided by who shows up and if these kids don't show up they might get less representation," Fredrickson said.

Campus political groups are pushing hard to get students registered to vote, one main obstacle in youth participation. They told Newsline 9 they are also focused on educating people about the candidates and where they stand on important issues.

Boardman said that's key.

"Our goal is just to make sure that students have those opportunities to get out and vote and then to be educated when they're actually doing so," he said.

Students on both sides of the aisle said they will continue to urge people to register to vote and head to the polls, while planning candidate forums ahead of election day.